Category Archives: Science Teaching

My colleague, Jesse Wilcox, presented a lesson to the elementary teachers we are working with tonight to help them understand the relationship between structure and function (NGSS, 4-LS1-1). He started the lesson by having students observe various organisms that had … Continue reading →

Tonight, my colleague Jesse Wilcox and I are leading some professional development for elementary teachers. For our first activity, we focused on helping our students recognize that while organisms of the same kind do look similar to each other, they … Continue reading →

During my methods class tonight, a student asked how one could use inquiry-based instruction to teach something like stoichiometry. So, we ran through a little simulation of how I think about teaching stoichiometry using inquiry. Inquiry is not necessarily limited … Continue reading →

This picture is the list our methods class came up with for ideas worth reaching about how science works, or the nature of science. Some of the aspect ought not be addressed explicitly in early elementary classrooms, but teachers should … Continue reading →

After getting a link from a friend about a science demo site with several misconceptions and activities that don’t work, I noted that having elementary students work with lemon batteries promotes wow, but not the how for students. What I … Continue reading →

I was let in on a conversation concerning how a certain teaching strategy builds on successes of students in generating scientifically accurate ideas rather than identifying their misconceptions, confronting them, and then resolving (the strategy doesn’t matter – I really … Continue reading →

Most science teachers have been doing hands-on science for quite some time. Science textbooks come littered with hands-on projects and quick laboratory experiences for students to complete. However, these hands-on activities often do much of the thinking FOR students rather … Continue reading →